Chinna thambi, one of the highest grossers of Tamil fim industry, was said to have collected about Rs. 10 crores overall ( US$ 3.3 million at 1992 rates) . All box office records of Tamil movies released before 1992 were broken.

The film completed silver jubilee – i.e. 175 days in 9 screens, 100 days in 47 screens, 50 days in 101 screens. The silver jubilee record of Chinna thambi in 9 screens has not been broken by any other movie, though Rajinikanth starrer Padayappa ( 1999 – 100 days in 85 screens) broke 100 days record of Chinna Thambi